Hoisting signs, wearing red shirts and raising their voices, registered nurses spent hours outside Henry Ford Rochester Hospital on Monday to start a strike aimed at securing a lighter workload and better pay.

Members of OPEIU Local 40 announced they would strike through Thursday.

The union learned Henry Ford Hospital had contracted nurses to supplement more than 100 employees protesting this week. So, while the Rochester nurses are on strike, contractual nurses work at the former Ascension Michigan site.

“Henry Ford Health complies with all applicable federal labor strike laws, which take precedence over state statutes, which we also abide by,” said Lauren Zakalik, the spokesperson for Henry Ford Health, in a statement to The Detroit News. “We respect our employees’ right to strike; at the same time, it’s crucial for us to engage contracted nursing staff during the strike to ensure patient safety and continuity of medical care.”

Leah Derr, strike organizer, said the union intended to strike for three days but will be on a “two-day lockout” since Henry Ford has temporary nurses Monday through Friday.

OPEIU Local 40 also announced Monday it had asked Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald to investigate whether the hospital violated the state’s law for strikebreakers.

The union said it spells out that companies cannot import workers from out of state to supplement workers on strike without saying their employment is offered in place of employees involved in a labor dispute.

Zakalik said Henry Ford “did not ‘lock out’ striking nurses. Because of the strike, we had to contract outside labor through June 14 to ensure there is no disruption to patient care or operations, and our nurses had until 7 AM today to tell us if they planned to work or to strike.”

She said the health system planned to comment further later Monday on the union’s claims.

Cheryl Herrmann, 60, who has been working at the site since 2011, said she saw the hospital change ownership three times. She said that when the hospital was run by a smaller business, it cared more about staff and quality patient care.

“As a stand-alone hospital, you wouldn’t be in business long… if you didn’t provide quality and safety, you wouldn’t survive where other organizations are becoming larger and larger,” said Herrmann, who started at Henry Ford 34 years ago and has also worked at a site in West Bloomfield Township.

She added: “It’s very disheartening when you see that you cannot provide the level of care that you really want to, to provide the level of compassion that you really want to because there’s inadequate resources available.”

Months ago, Henry Ford Health took the name of eight Ascension Michigan hospitals.

Approximately 17,000 Ascension Michigan employees accepted job offers from Henry Ford, and the combined health system was slated to employ roughly 50,000 people across 550 sites.

Those protesting Monday believe the quality of care has weakened since Ascension and Henry Ford Health merged.

The nurses and their allies chanted and held signs emphasizing safe staffing. They wore red shirts with the message, “Safe Staffing Saves Lives.”

Drivers honked and passengers cheered for the union members as they walked back and forth along University Drive.

Amanda Clarke, a nurse at Henry Ford Health, walked outside with a sign that read 2 Years Too Long,” signifying how long nurses from Local 40 Office and the Professional Employees International Union said they have been negotiating with Henry Ford Hospital in Rochester.

“They just aren’t really willing to negotiate on the things that we really need, which is a safe patient-staff ratio, fair and competitive union wages,” Clarke said. “All we’re asking for is safe staffing so our nursing licenses aren’t on the line.

“In the ER our ratio is 1:6 patients, which is a lot… a lot of times in the ER it’s a 1:3 or a 1:4 ratio. It’s really hard and it’s unsafe. There’s been a lot of experiences where I just have felt so worn that I questioned if I even want to be a nurse or if I even want to work here. … You can’t give the time and dedication that you need to your patients if you’re running around between six critically ill people. It’s very hard.”

The strike drew supporters such as Katherine Wallace, 60, who works at Corewell Health Troy and was a former nurse at the site.

“We need to have a shift in how healthcare is prioritized and especially these nurses here have been two years without a contract,” she said. “We have to be supportive. We want corporations to take us seriously.”